Colin Montgomerie is the latest big name to decide not to participate in the Accenture World Match Play Championship in Melbourne next January. The Scot, who this year finally lost his Order of Merit crown to fellow Brit Lee Westwood, has decided to go on a family holiday to Barbados instead. He is the fifth player of the top seven in the world to turn the event down.
Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Davis Love are the other big names to give the tournament a miss. World number three David Duval has yet to reveal if he will be travelling to Melbourne. This time last year, the event was won by Darren Clarke after he beat Duval and Wooos on his way to claiming the title.
Initially, the tournament was designed with the world's top 64 players in mind but because of withdrawals, mainly due to the timing of the event and its location, means that even Swede Mathias Gronberg in 99th place has a good chance of playing.
Filed by Sinéad Gleeson
